The present invention is concerned with bracelets made of links and, in particular, with watch bracelets made of steel, of a precious metal or of some other material. In such bracelets, the links are hingedly assembled and held together by means of pins, which can be either press-fitted, screwed or freely engaged. The present invention is concerned with bracelets made of links hingedly assembled and held together by means of free pins.
Such a bracelet is known from document FR 2 688 984 which discloses a bracelet made of links assembled by means of free pins of which the ends carry grooves co-operating with housings of connecting means designed for being fastened, in the service position, into a recess provided on the outer links, which recess opens on the inner side face of these links. The fastening of these connecting means in the outer links is carried out by means of screws.
Bracelets made of links of this type have serious drawbacks associated with the fastening of the connecting means by screws into the external links.
Actually, such an assembly requires the use of a tool, such as a screwdriver for assembling and disassembling the bracelet or when adjusting the length of the bracelet. Furthermore, these bracelets exhibit some weakness when subjected to laterally applied traction forces, since all the stress is received solely by the pin, which by necessity has only a very small diameter.
Finally, the assembling and the adjusting of the length of these bracelets must be carried out by trained personnel, since the placing of the connecting means on the pins and then into the housings of the external links and their fastening by means of screws require dexterity and most often the use of special tools, for instance for forming bores.
The present invention is aimed at providing a bracelet made of links hingedly assembled and held together by means of free pins which, on the one hand, is capable of resisting particularly well to laterally applied traction forces and which, on the other hand, can be assembled, disassembled or adjusted in length by unskilled personnel, in particular by the user himself, without the need to form bores or use tools. Another aim of the invention is to make such a bracelet with a minimal number of different components, in order to reduce its cost and facilitate its manufacturing and assembling.
The object of the present invention is a bracelet which is made of links hingedly assembled and held together by means of free pins, which obviates the above-mentioned drawbacks and which achieves the aims cited above. This bracelet is characterised by the features set forth in claim 1 and includes, optionally, those set forth in the dependent claims.
The appended drawing illustrates schematically and by way of example, two embodiments of the bracelet and alternate versions thereof, which bracelet is made of links in according the present invention.
FIG. 1 is an exploded view from above of a section of a bracelet comprised of links which are simple in their shapes.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view form above of a section of a bracelet including H-shaped links.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are views at an enlarged scale respectively from beneath and from above, of a detail of the section of a bracelet shown in FIG. 2 and they illustrate in detail the blocking of the pins in the outer links.
FIG. 5 illustrates a first alternate version of the blocking members.
FIG. 6 illustrates a second alternate version of the blocking members.